Rory McIlroy and the 25 Most Overrated Players in PGA History

High expectations are often placed on golfers. Sometimes these expectations are reasonable, but often they border on absurd.

Applying the "next Tiger Woods" label to anyone is completely unfair. Woods is a once in a lifetime talent, and we may never see a golfer as good as Woods ever again.

But the media doesn't look at fairness when hyping players. They will hype and then over-hype a golfer for a variety of reasons. As a result, people develop lofty expectations of players.

When deciding who would make the 25 most overrated golfers in PGA Tour history, I was mainly looking for two things. First, the golf fans had to expect the player to be a force in majors, either by winning or at least coming close. Second, the media had to have already hyped these players endlessly.

Rickie Fowler

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Fowler was a very decorated amateur player.

As a result, he was expected to be a force during his first tournaments on the PGA Tour. Although Fowler did win the Rookie of the Year Award in 2010, he failed to win any tournaments that year or the next.

It is still too early to give up hope, but for one of the young guns everyone expected to win multiple times by now, Fowler is definitely overrated.

Ty Tryon

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Ty Tryon may go down as the most overrated golfer in history.

At the age of 17, Tryon became the youngest person ever to earn full exemption on the PGA Tour by qualifying through Q-School. Simply because he got his tour card around the same time he received his driver's license, Tryon became the next can't miss star on tour.

His success on tour, however, never came. Tryon struggled being in such an adult environment while still a teenager.

Justin Leonard

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Justin Leonard was a very decorated collegiate golfer. Once he turned professional, Leonard also found some success. Since joining the tour, Leonard has won 13 events as well as the 1997 Open Championship.

Even with all of those wins, Leonard still qualifies as being overrated.

After winning his one major, he has struggled to be a factor in majors. This is a big deal since after the win many predicted multiple major victories for the Texan.

Davis Love III

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Davis Love III was born into a golf family. His father was a nationally recognized instructor, and his mother was a low handicap. As a result, it was only natural for Davis to eventually become a member of the PGA Tour.

On tour, Davis has been successful. With 20 tour wins, including the 1997 PGA Championship, it is hard to call him overrated. But that's exactly what Davis is.

As his career was beginning, everyone was predicting many major victories for Davis. So to end his career with just one (assuming he doesn't win any past the age of 47), is a major disappointment.

David Duval

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David Duval was an amazing golfer from 1997 until 2001. In that time, Duval won 13 events including the 2001 Open Championship.

But because he was so successful in those few years, everyone attached the expectation that he would perform at that level for the rest of his career. After 2001, however, Duval fell off the face of the golfing world, mainly due to injury.

So although it may be a bit unfair to call him overrated since he struggled to due to injury, when someone is expect to challenge Tiger Woods' dominance and simply doesn't come close, overrated is the only thing to call him.

Anthony Kim

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Unfortunately for Anthony Kim a wrist injury sidelined him at a time when he seemed to be finding his form.

Kim was said to be the guy to save American golf. He was charismatic and could hit the ball a mile. He has won three times out on the PGA Tour but as of late has done nothing but let everyone in the golf world down.

Ryan Moore

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A great amateur career leads to high expectations as a professional.

Sound familiar?

Moore became the first player since Tiger Woods to earn his tour card without having to go to Q School. With such an impressive feat, many expected Moore to win multiple times in his first few years on tour.

With only one PGA Tour win on his career, Moore has been nothing but disappointing so far.